Expanding the Unicode Repertoire
Unencoded Scripts of Africa and Asia
Deborah Anderson, SEI, Department of Linguistics, UC Berkeley Anshuman Pandey, Department of History, University of Michigan IUC 38
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November 5, 2014
Already Encoded Scripts (12)
“Modern” use (8)
Historic use (3)
Bamum/Bamum Supplement
Bassa Vah
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Ethiopic/Ethiopic Supplement and Extensions
Meroitic Cursive
Meroitic Hieroglyphs
Mende Kikakui
N’Ko
Osmanya
Tifiangh
Vai
Liturgical use (1)
Coptic
Note: Scripts in bold italic had assistance from SEI
Bassa Vah (Unicode 7.0)
Scripts of Africa
Unencoded scripts (historical) – possible candidates for encoding
Additions to Egyptian Hieroglyphs (Ptolemaic) – over 7K characters
Hieratic?
Demotic?
Source: Chicago Demotic Dictionary
Numidian?
Unencoded scripts (modern or nearmodern) – good candidates (13)
Adlam * (1978)
Mwangwego (1979)
Bagam (1910)
Nwagu Aneke Igbo (1960s)
Beria (1980s)
Oberi Okaime (1927)
Bete (1956)
Borama (Gadabuursi) (1933)
Garay (Wolof) (1961)
Hausa Raina Kama (1990s)
Kaddare (1952)
Kpelle (1930s)
Loma (1930s)
Mandombe (1978)
* Approved by UTC
Unencoded scripts – not currently good candidates for encoding (21)
Aka Umuagbara Igbo (1993)
Masaba (1930)
Aladura Holy alphabet (1927)
Ndebe Igbo (2009)
Bassa (1836)
New Nubian (2005)
Esan oracle rainbow (1996)
Nubian Kenzi (1993)
Fula (2 scripts) (1958/1963)
Oromo (1956)
Hausa (2 scripts) (1970/1998)
Soni (2001)
Kii (2006)
Wolof Saalliw wi (2002)
Kru alphabet (1972)
Yoruba FaYe (2007)
Luo (2 scripts)
Yoruba holy script (undeciphered) (20c)
Unencoded scripts – non-phonetic graphic symbols (10)
Adinkra
Akan
Bogolanfini
Cenda
Dogon cosmograms
Gicandi
Hu-ronko
Kongo cosmograms
Nsibidi
Poro symbols
Kongo cosmograms
Nsibidi
Adinkra
Poster child for modern script: N’Ko
Created in 1949 by Solomane Kante
Used for Mande languages (18-20m speakers)
Used in religious materials, newspapers, books, Internet
Poster child for modern script: N’Ko Key traits: Many active users (used in 10 countries) Significant written text materials Taught in schools (e.g., Guinea and Mali) Funding support Tireless proponent: M. Doumbouya Has iPhone app, but still some issues in browsers and other software
2006
Case study: Adlam
Created in 1980s by A. and I. Barry
Alphabetic script used for Fulani language (Pular / Fulfulde) spoken by 40m people across Africa
Case study: Adlam
Used in 9 countries across West Africa
Learning materials and monthly periodical are published in the script
Case study: Adlam
Unicode Technical Committee, Sunnyvale, CA October 27 2014
Case study: Adlam
Unicode Technical Committee, Sunnyvale, CA October 27 2014
Case study: Mandombe
Created in 1978
Used in Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries for Bantu languages of the Congo
Connected to Kimbanguist Church
Copyright issue affecting its encoding
Case study: Garay (Wolof)
Developed in 1961
Creator (Assane Faye) still alive
Used for Wolof (4 million speakers in West Africa)
Taught in classes
Case study: Oberi Okaime (Church “freely given”)
Created ca. 1927, fl.1930-1980
Used for Medefaidrin language, a “spirit language” spoken by a Christian group in SE Nigeria
Limited use today but linguists and community are interested in documenting and preserving it
Case study: Loma
Created in 1930s
Used in 1930s and 1940s for Loma language, spoken in Guinea and Liberia by 195,000
Scarce primary material, primarily personal correspondence or record-keeping
Small group of interested users
Problems Difficult
to get information on the scripts and their use Fieldwork may be required
Some
scripts have scarce source material, so need to rely on secondary material
Problems From standards committees’ perspective:
Need to provide rationale for encoding the script: Is
there an interested group of scholars or users?
Are
there ongoing digitization projects?
Need to show (newer) scripts will take hold, not be ephemeral or limited to very few people
Other challenges
Many of the unencoded scripts are in remote areas in West Africa; may be difficult to get a timely response to questions
Most of the scripts have no official government support
Approaches to gather information
Rely on users in diaspora for information
Use social media to locate members of the community and gauge interest
New possibilities for encoded scripts
Growth of mobile phones may encourage use of local scripts (once encoded)
New possibilities for encoded scripts
Wikimedia Incubators as a way to spawn interest in local scripts
Summary
Egyptian hieroglyphs (Ptolemaic): need research
Various modern African scripts still need: adequate
text materials
information
on use of characters
verification
script is used today (and stable)
rationale
for encoding the script
Acknowledgements
Andrij Rovenchak, author of African Writing Systems of the Modern Age (with J. Glavy)
Chuck Riley, Catalog Librarian for African Languages, Yale University Library
Prof. Konrad Tuchscherer, St. John’s University
Don Osborn, Bisharat
Bamum
Scripts of Asia
Scripts of (Non-Ideographic) Asia
South Asia: already encoded (30)
Bengali
Limbu
Sinhala
Brahmi
Mahajani
Sora Sompeng
Gujarati
Malayalam
Syloti Nagri
Grantha
Meetei Mayek
Takri
Gurmukhi
Modi
Telugu
Kaithi
Mro
Thaana
Kharoshthi
Ol Chiki
Tirhuta
Kannada
Oriya
Warang Citi
Khojki
Saurashtra
Khudawadi
Sharada
Note: Scripts in bold italic had assistance from SEI
Lepcha
Siddham
South Asia: unencoded (23)
Ahom *
Gondi
Ranjana (Landzya)
Bhaiksuki *
Gunjala Gondi
Satavahana
Balti ‘A’
India Valley script
‘Shankha lipi’ (shell script)
Balti ‘B’
Kadamba
Sindhi scripts
Bhujinmol
Landa
Tulu (Tigalari)
Chalukya
Multani *
* Approved by UTC
Chola
Nandinagari
Dhives Akuru
Newa *
Dogra
Pallava
South Asia: unencoded - new scripts (15)
Bagada
Magar Akkha
Coorgi Cox
Tangsa (2 scripts)
Dhimal
Tani Lipi
Jenticha
Tikamuli
Khambu Rai
Tolong Siki
Gurung (Khema & Phri)
Zou
Kirat Rai
Southeast Asia: already encoded (22)
Balinese
New Tai Lue
Batak
Pahawh Hmong
Buginese
Pau Cin Hau
Buhid
Rejang
Cham
Sundanese
Hanunoo
Tagalog
Javanese
Tagbanwa
Kayah Li
Tai Le
Khmer
Tai Tham
Lao
Tai Viet
Myanmar
Thai
Note: Scripts in bold italic had assistance from SEI
Southeast Asia: unencoded (9)
Eskaya
Gangga Malayu (cipher?)
Kawi
Leke
Makassrese Bird Script
Pau Cin Hau Syllabary
Pyu
Rakhawunna
Rohingya
Central Asia: already encoded (5)
Manichaean
Mongolian
Old Turkic
Phags-pa
Tibetan
Note: Scripts in bold italic had assistance from SEI
Central Asia: unencoded (8)
Khatt-i Baburi (cipher?)
Khotanese (Turkestani)
Marchen *
Old Uyghur
Sogdian
Soyombo
Tocharian
Zanabazar Square *
* Approved by UTC
Number Systems: unencoded
North Indian ‘Letter Numbers’
South Indian ‘Letter Numbers’
Siyaq Numbers
Arabic (Diwani)
Ottoman
Persian
North Indian
South Indian (Dakkhani)
Recent Success: Siddham
Recent Success: Siddham
East Asia, since 9th c. CE, predominantly in Japan
Brahmi-based, left to right
Liturgical: Buddhist texts in Sanskrit
Challenges for encoding:
Alphasyllabic script, but is analyzed from an ideographic perspective
Features have different semantics in Japanese context
Meeting in Tokyo, November 2013 with experts
Recent Success: Siddham
Recent Success: Newa
Recent Success: Newa
Nepal, 10th century to 20th century
Brahmi-based
Used for writing Sanskrit, Maithili, Nepalese, Nepal Bhasa (Newar)
+100,000 records (manuscripts, inscriptions, books)
Challenges for encoding:
Historical script being revived and reformed
Ethno-political issues
Adaption of Brahmi-based script for writing Tibeto-Burman
Recent Success: Newa
First proposed in 2012
Wikimedia funded trip to Kathmandu to meet with user community
Consensus developed during meeting and remotely after
Approved for encoding at UTC October 2014
Challenges: Bhujinmol
Challenges: Bhujinmol
Nepal, parts of northern India, 12-17th centuries CE
Brahmi-based: structure identical to Newa script
Glyph repertoire nearly identical to Newa
Distinguished by head-stroke (bhujinmol = “fly-headed”)
Challenges for encoding:
Unify as style of Newa or encode as independent script for plain text?
Unencoded: Soyombo
Unencoded: Soyombo
Liturgical script developed by Zanabazar, 17th c. CE
Brahmi-based, modeled upon Ranjana and Tibetan
Used for writing Sanskrit, Tibetan, Mongolian
Writing system has language-specific features
Challenges for encoding:
Access to user community
Access to sources
Unencoded: Khotanese
Unencoded: Khotanese
Western China, 4th-11th c. CE
Brahmi-based script, left to right
Used for Gandhari, Khotan
Challenges for encoding:
Unify with Brahmi?
Access to sources
Unencoded: Tocharian
Unencoded: Tocharian
Western China, 9th century
Brahmi-based script, left to right
Used for writing Sanskrit, Tocharian
Buddhist and Manichaean texts, administrative documents,
Challenges for encoding:
Unification with Brahmi?
Further analysis of sources
Unencoded: Sogdian
Unencoded: Sogdian
Iran to China, 2nd-13th c. CE
Abjad, alphabet; right to left, derived from Syriac
Used for writing Sogdian
Religious texts of Buddhism, Manichaeanism, Christianity
Challenges for encoding:
Unification with Syriac?
Analysis of logograms
Further analysis of sources
“I'd rather be a dog’s or a pig’s wife than yours” – Sogdian lady writing to her husband, 314 CE (source: International Dunhuang Project, British Library)
Unencoded: Old Uyghur
Unencoded: Old Uyghur
Used in western China, predominantly in Xinjiang region, 7th-19th c. CE
Abjad, alphabet; vertical orientation
Derived from Sogdian, basis for Mongolian
Challenges for encoding:
Accommodating sub-regional styles and orthographies
Access to sources and user community
Political sensitivities
Unencoded: Siyaq Numbers
Unencoded: Siyaq Numbers
Specialized subset of Arabic used for numerical notation
Highly stylized abbreviations for Arabic names of numbers
Middle East to South Asia
Different styles, same underlying principle
Challenges for encoding:
Model for encoding
Fractions, unit marks
How much to unify?
Unencoded: Pyu
Unencoded: Pyu
Myanmar, 5th c. CE
Brahmi-based, left to right
Used primarily for inscriptions: gold leaf, terracotta, stone
Two styles: Pyu Pali & Pyu Tircul
Challenges for encoding:
Could be unified with the Pallava script
Requires encoding the Pallava script
Access to and analysis of sources
Unencoded: Eskaya
Unencoded: Eskaya
Created by Mariano Datahan, early 20th c.
Syllabary, 1,065 letters
Used for writing Eskayan, an artificial language used on Bohol
Challenges for encoding:
Determining suitability for encoding
Investigation of sources
Extent of usage
Current status
Filling in the Gaps
Bengali: weights and measures
Buginese: Ende, Bimanese extensions
Devanagari: invocation signs, vowel signs, Vedic extensions
Gujarati: Arabic transliteration marks
Khojki: additional letters, Arabic transliteration marks
Malayalam: weights and measures
Mongolian: head marks
Oriya: invocation signs, fraction signs, ‘letter-numbers’
Rejang: Kerinci, Minangkabau, Lampung, Angka Bejagung numeral extensions
Sharada: various signs, Vedic tone marks
Takri: disunification of some regional scripts
Tirhuta: fractions, currency, weights, measures marks
Expanding the Repertoire
Unencoded scripts: +102
Africa: 47
Asia: +55
Challenges
+8 years: from preliminary research for proposal to publication in Unicode
New universal shaping engine will speed up implementation
Access to user community, sources, and funding affect encoding projects
Script Encoding Initiative at UC Berkeley
http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/sei Email:
[email protected]
“One standard to rule them all”
